Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on HLIT. Raymond James cut shares of Harmonic from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Harmonic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $12.50 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Northland Securities decreased their price target on shares of Harmonic from $14.00 to $12.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Harmonic from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Harmonic from $18.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Harmonic currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Harmonic Price Performance

NASDAQ:HLIT opened at $9.51 on Wednesday. Harmonic has a 52-week low of $8.42 and a 52-week high of $15.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.47 and a 200 day moving average of $13.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 0.89.

Harmonic (NASDAQ:HLIT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. Harmonic had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 13.62%. On average, research analysts expect that Harmonic will post 0.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Harmonic announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 15.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HLIT. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Harmonic by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Harmonic by 117.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,448 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Harmonic by 14.9% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,671 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Harmonic by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 30,154 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Harmonic by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,041 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.38% of the company’s stock.

Harmonic Company Profile

Harmonic Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband solutions worldwide. The company operates through Broadband and Video segments. The Broadband segment sells broadband access solutions and related services, including cOS software-based broadband access solutions to broadband operators; and cOS central cloud services, a subscription service for cOS customers.